re intelligent than Turks. Why should such
bands murder none but Armenians? The falsity of the statement is
obvious.

Zohrab and Vartakis fell victims to their own courage and firmness of
purpose; they were killed out of envy of their learning and their love
for their own people, and for their tenacity in pursuing their own path.
They were killed by that villain, Ahmed El-Serzi, one of the sworn men
of the Unionists, he who murdered Zeki Bey; his story in the Ottoman
upheaval is well known, and how the Unionists saved him from his fitting
punishment and even from prison. A Kurd told me that Vartakis was one of
the boldest and most courageous men who ever lived; he was chief of the
Armenian bands in the time of Abdul-Hamid; he was wounded in the foot by
a cannon-ball whilst the Turkish troops were pursuing these bands, and
was imprisoned either at Erzeroum or at Maaden, in the Vilayet of
Diarbekir. The Sultan Abdul-Hamid, through his officials, charged him to
modify his attitude and acknowledge that he had been in error, when he
should be pardoned and appointed to any post he might choose. He
rejected this offer, saying, "I will not sell my conscience for a post,
or say that the Government of Abdul-Hamid is just, whilst I see its
tyranny with my eyes and touch it with my hand."

It is said that the Unionists ordered that all the Armenian Deputies
should be put to death, and the greater number of them were thus dealt
with. It is reported also that Dikran Gilikian, the well-known writer,
who was an adherent of the Committee of Union and Progress, was killed
in return for his learning, capacity, and devotion to their cause. Such
was the recompense of his services to the Unionists.

In the evening we arrived at Kara Jevren, and slept there till morning.
At sunrise we went on towards Sivrek, and half-way on the road we saw a
terrible spectacle. The corpses of the killed were lying in great
numbers on both sides of the road; here we saw a woman outstretched on
the ground, her body half veiled by her long hair; there, women lying on
their faces, the dried blood blackening their delicate forms; there
again, the corpses of men, parched to the semblance of charcoal by the
heat of the sun. As we approached Sivrek, the corpses became more
numerous, the bodies of children being in a great majority. As we
arrived at Sivrek and left our carts, we saw one of the servants of the
_khan_ carrying a little infant with hair as yellow as go